Concrete box joint



April 9 Tv HAMLIN ET AL CONCRETE BOX JOINT Filed- Dec. 31, 1937 :IW Si g.

'//v VENTORS THORNTON HAML //v /oH/v H/RAM Ho 00 HARR/s, K/ECH, F05 75/? 3 HARRIS A TTORNE Y6.

Patented pr-25 1939 ,8 3?

t .7 i. k t 23721;; 3 Application December 31, 1937, Serial No. 182,772 g E-J m 51. L; 3|; Jan. 3. .W cat; w" w' 9. s; :2: '35:. i Lifiiifi .enii To. vailnllu'ai mhis invention relates tolbuildingwstructunes-t diflieul-t. teeassemble in. positiontandlock'against hee-elements :91 which sane umade -of wrelatively relative movement, in such rel-ationshipmhatsthee; qayytxmaterialsv and'particularly-ntosat joint bevault will not be crushed; by the weight of they tween tvm.stgucturalcebnildingelementsi. earth-upon it: 'I'heivault showntintheldrawing 5 3.1. stan spbjectaqf our invention-toiprovide isceconstnuctediofi auiew verwheavy partsaandks .& Qcking :j-Qinh fan-structural buildingise-lew these"aarezcloselytlockedtogethen againstalaterai ments of such a character thaththeeweighthotandwezztteal; earth pressure hyzethemse oft-joints. one elementswillh act to; pzzevent displacement construetedisinzaccordanceewith.ouninventionM-tc l-=1.-, I s t irection 011, the joined elements with -A.:bctt,om,; slab Ills lowerediinto the gravev m resp eqtigq eachpther. the 4 an; anZL-restsmpcnithecearthinthe bottomthereot. .;10 132152) iurtherobject toipiiovidessueheantinten-w Oneepiecegsidelwallsati and i3 are'then placed? locking ioint yvhich shall be of simple yet effecineposition, iaseshowna zAt:.the@ends;-.ofaeaeha of tive;;and sturdy design.- we t he when these 'sidewwallsithere is: formed integrallyawithn Itkis,- a f urtheip..object tojprgvides-a, jointtof suclL tllQuI-Hfiil'lfjRQFfi-QH .Ofuthe twallzaanprojection-r 5 design that the engaging-surfaces. onvtheiinterk, tongueel tglwhich extends ilongitudmallye-fromtthealti locking elements may beireadilyiand;inexpenm end cfmthet-wallt,approximately midway between sivelsg -fo rmed wh-en' casting such ,elements from the top and bottomlthereofazandziseof thezsames; cong ete or cther.simila'h-material 1m. thick-hesseas the walLefiDhis stongued-is aformed t is a further object to..prov1'de such an; inte1:.-.;, with: a .teniace. l fiuw-hichsis inclinediupwardlym w 'lqcking joint thatthe.weightofcne oithe joined; ands-:cutwardlyzvfrom the; eIldtOfi the a ,oi in stfnctnizestqna 13nd mallsezu. are; then; lowered into positionazs "buildings of concrete, s t ne,- ,igon,,wood,; or other Each ;ofirthese...endtqvalls .is cast with a slot OM a r e wh i kis de i d teemploy afiselim reeesscil ,extendingeacmss,end face 22.-:Upper.:-; lockingi joint utilizing the. weight of qn eeof thee-c faceifi lofathis; slottand; lower facet zflgtwhichuisih joined. elements and,.o f bodies snpefimposed pazalleL theret0, ,-a1=e.inc1ined "upwardly: and aoutm thereon tor lock tqgetherthe two elements. wandlyb-l 'Iihe vertical:depthiiofithegslot is slightlys In the drawing, v i n Figll 'is a perspectiye view pta; buriahya t. andthe;honizontaltdepthofethe slot is equal, tom constructed in accordance w1th Om J enti n the thickness-Hot the. sides-wall GL2; The slot 2.1

broken away to better disclose the details of the bottom sedges -of :the- ,end;.,wa;l-lm20.; 'I heainnera 40 design of the joint; a r fapegoflthewend Wallis. also-stormed ati.each-,.-.end-r40 .FigT2 is 'a side elevational View of the vault; withsa enticalgroove 12.5, ti-shaped 1in=h01jzonta1.s and}. w 2: KQSHeS QiQmamI;extending;ftenas..the; =top:tothe;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation-a1 View the iv ulti. 329 se dwa lz xceptawherei-tis inter A- ule t -m h w m me f f ii 1 s" m -gnu l ments-innate tIiedisinteg'iatingi gem-011 f the ea gtl t 115611 the Mametggjhut is;

, zontanifbeyond'thlendt finiegbo a dist meeet lt W v cits qw ww h kreswt swm t P16 5 58, o the ur ound? e, lowerin 1 a, gnedtnfrt e a1 zo jthe 1 1%en e 1? p w nlt tt tp h u tbe O etse tere h. si ntel hpnositeethe. sp ed a slimmed a few f fi wh ch ar h upr'ir'tacis 256i the slots are causadtoen gage and rest upon the top faces iii of the tongue by giving the end wall a slight horizontal movement toward the ends of the side walls l2 and I3. When the end wall is now permitted to settle under the action of gravity, it moves downward and toward the side walls, under the controlling influence of the engaging surfaces l1 and 23, until the bottom edge of the end wall rests upon the bottom slab and the faces of the groove 25 have contacted the faces of the ridge l8. When both end walls have been thus assembled with the side walls, the cover slab 2B is placed in position. As shown, it is made in three sections and rests loosely upon the side and end walls. Whether the cover is made in one piece or in two or more sections, and whether it rests loosely upon the box walls or is provided with some means for preventing lateral displacement, is, of course, entirely a matter of structural design and preference to meet a given set of condltions. Similarly, means may be provided, if deemed desirable or necessary, to prevent lateral displacement of the walls of the box with respect to the bottom slab ll.

When the bottom, walls, and top are assembled as shown, it is apparent that the weight of the ends, the: cover, and earth or other material on top of the cover, tends to force the end wall into closecontact with the ends of the side walls and to lock the end wall against horizontal displacement either outwardly away from the ends of the side walls or transversely of the ends of the side walls. The interlocking faces 23 and I5 are the means by which this weight prevents the former displacement, and it is by the combined faces and of the mating groove 25 and tongue l8 that this weight is effective to prevent the latter displacement.

The essence of our invention is the interlocking joint so constructed that, when in proper position, the weight of one of the joined members -and have so referred out departing tends to hold that member against displacement horizontally in any direction with respect to the other member. While we have described the joined elements or members as vertically disposed, to them in the claims, we wish it understood that this is for convenience and brevity. of description only, and that if either or both of the joined members are disposed in any'position between the horizontal and vertical, it is still possible that a component of the force of gravity acting upon the mass of one of the members may be effective to hold the joined members in locked relationship. Even if one of the members is disposed horizontally, it is possible for some force other than gravity to act to hold the joined members in interlocked relationship.

It will be apparent that many changes can be made in the details of construction of the embodiment of our invention described above withfrom the principles thereof. For example, the bottom slab, for convenience of handling, may be made of a plurality of sections. The grooves 25 and mating ridges l8 may be of arcuate, rectangular, or other outline in cross-section, instead of V-shaped as shown and described herein.

While we have described and shown one embodiment of our invention, we desire not tobe limited to this embodiment, but define and set forth our invention in the following claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A structural assembly, comprising: a first vertical plate having a vertical groove on its first side face and a transverse recess opening on said first side face, the upper face of said recess sloping upwardly and outwardly; and a second vertical plate having a first projection extending longitudinally from the end of said second plate and mating with said groove and adapted to prevent horizontal displacement of said first plate transversely of said second plate, and having a second projection extending longitudinally from its said end face adapted to enter said recess, its upper face sloping upwardly and outwardly to mate with the upper face of said recess and adapted to prevent displacement of said first plate with respect to said second plate either vertically downward or horizontally toward or from said second plate.

2. A structural assembly, comprising: a first vertical plate element having a recess formed on its inner face, the upper face of said recess sloping upwardly and outwardly; and a second vertical plate element having a projection formed on one of its ends, said projection being adapted to enter said recess and formed with its upper face sloping upwardly and outwardly, the end of said second plate element and the inner face of said first plate element being formed one with a second projection and the other with a mating depression adapted to prevent displacement of said first plate element transversely of the end of said second plate element.

3. A structural assembly, vertical plate formed with walled slot extending across one of its end faces and upwardly from its first side face to its second side face, and a vertically disposed groove on its first side face adjacent said one of its end faces, said groove extending from the top of said first plate to and communicating with said slot, and from said slot to the bottom of said first plate; and a second vertical plate adapted to be joined at one of its ends to said first vertical plate adjacent the said end face of said first vertical plate and in horizontally angular configuration comprising: a first an inclined parallel with respect to said first vertical plate and with the face of its said end abutting said first side face of said first plate, said second vertical plate being formed with a tongue projecting from its said end face shaped to snugly fit in said slot of said first plate and being further formed with a projecting vertically disposed ridge shaped in cross section to snugly fit in said groove of said first plate;

4. A structural assembly, comprising: a first vertical plate formed with an inclined slot across one of its end faces, and a vertical groove disposed adjacent said end face and on that one of its side faces upon which opens the lower end of said slot; and a second vertical plate formed with a tongue on one of its end faces, said tongue projecting longitudinally from said second plate and having the same shape and substantially the same size as the said slot and being inclined upwardly from said second plate, said second plate being also formed with a vertically disposed ridge on its said end face adapted to mate with said vertical groove.

5. In a rectangular box: a pair of vertical side walls; and a pair of vertical end walls, each of one of said pairs of walls being provided on each of its end faces tending supporting tongue having top and bottom faces which slope outwardly and upwardly in a direction longitudinally of said wall and are horizontal in transverse section, and each of the other of said pairs of walls being provided with a transverse recess in each of its end faces adapted to snugly fit one of said tongues, and each with a longitudinally ex- ,4

of one of said pairs of walls being provided in the vicinity of each of its ends with a vertical groove, and each of the other of said pairs of walls being provided in the vicinity of each of its ends with a projection adapted to engage one of said grooves, said grooves and projections being adapted to prevent horizontal displacement of each of the one of said pairs of walls in either direction transversely of the end of the adjacent one of the other of said pairs of walls.

6. A structural assembly of concrete slabs, comprising: a first vertically disposed slab cast with a parallel walled slot across one of its end faces, the upper and lower parallel walls of said slot being horizontal in transverse section in a direction longitudinal of said slab and sloping ly toward the inner side face of said slab; and a second vertically disposed slab cast with a tongue projecting longitudinally from one of its ends andsecond slab in either direction.

7. A structural assembly of concrete slabs, comprising: a first vertically disposed slab cast with a parallel walled slot across one of its end faces, the upper and lower parallel walls of said slot being horizontal in transverse section in a direction longitudinal of said slab and sloping in a direction transverse of said slab downwardly toward the inner side face of said slab; and a second vertically disposed slab cast with a tongue projecting longitudinally from one of its ends and having substantially the same shape and size as the said slot and adapted to mate therewith, the said slabs being cast with vertically elongated engaging surfaces extending from the top to the bottom of said slabs adapted to prevent horizontal displacement of said first slab transversely of the end of said second slab in either direction.

8. In a concrete structure: a first vertically disposed plate cast with a slot across one of its end faces, the upper and lower walls of said slot being parallel and horizontal in transverse secing longitudinally outwardly tion in a direction longitudinal of said slab and sloping in a direction transverse of said slab the inner face of said slab, and further cast with a vertically disposed groove, V-shaped in cross section, on its inner side face adjacent its said end face; and a second vertically disposed plate cast with a tongue projectfrom one of its end faces, said tongue being of substantially the same horizontal length and transverse vertical sectional shape and dimensions as the said slot, and further cast with a vertically disposed ridge of substantially the same cross sectional shape and size as the said groove, said ridge projecting outwardly from said end face of said second plate.

9. In a concrete structure: a first vertical wall element; and a second vertical wall element, the two elements being formed in casting, the one element with a supporting surface inclined to the horizontal in a direction longitudinal of one of said elements, and horizontal in transverse section in a direction perpendicular'to said longitudinal direction and the other with a mating inclined supported surface, the one surface extending longitudinally of its element and the other extending transversely of its element, the two elements being formed on the inner side face of one element and the end face of the other element with vertically slidably engaging surfaces additional to said supporting and supported surfaces and adapted to prevent horizontal displacement of one element transversely of the end of the other element in either direction.

10. In a concrete structure: a first vertical wall element; and a second vertical wall element, the two elements being formed in casting, the one element with an inclined supporting surface and the other element with a mating inclined supported surface, the one surface inclined longitudinally of its element, and the other surface inclined transversely of its element, the two elements being formed with vertically slidably engaging surfaces, the horizontal sectional lines' of the said vertically slidably engaging surfaces being set at an angle to the longitudinal lines of one of said elements.

THORNTON HAMLIN. JOHN HIRAM HOOD. 

